Post-graduate Program

Dr. Abeed Jamal is the Director of the Postgraduate Education Program, which is widely recognized for the excellence of its clinical training. This highly-structured program encompasses the broad range of basic and clinical renal sciences with formal educational sessions and weekly resident and fellow’s rounds. The Program had three second-year and four first-year trainees enrolled in the core nephrology training as of July 1, and has an outstanding record of successful Royal College examination results. Elective opportunities are provided for subspecialty residents to pursue training in particular aspects of renal medicine, including histopathology, glomerular diseases, community nephrology, dialysis or transplantation, and other components according to their needs and interests. Residents and fellows are encouraged to be active in clinical research throughout their core years, with submissions to and presentations at meetings of the Canadian and American Societies of Nephrology, the American Society of Transplantation, the Canadian Transplant Society, and The Transplantation Society (international).

Nephrology Residency Training Program

The University of British Columbia Division of Nephrology offers a two-year residency in Nephrology which is accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Applicants must have completed a three year residency in internal medicine.

The program is based in Vancouver at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) and St Paul’s Hospital. Each hospital provides the full range of nephrology services, including general nephrology clinics, chronic kidney disease clinics, hemodialysis (both outpatient and in-centre nocturnal), peritoneal dialysis, transplantation and in-patient nephrology. Between them, the two hospitals provide tertiary and quaternary referral services for the Province, with a population of approximately four million people, and VGH is one of the largest hospitals in Canada with approximately 600 acute care beds. St Paul’s hospital includes a small maternity ward offering some opportunity for exposure to complications of pregnancy, while VGH operates a busy burns and trauma service and neurosurgery, and both hospitals provide most other specialty medical and surgical services and critical care. The renal services at VGH also include a large home hemodialysis program.

Completion of the 24-month program by residents already qualified in Internal Medicine fulfills the training requirements for a Subspecialty Certificate in Nephrology from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

The usual start date is July 1st each year, although this is flexible depending upon the completion of the third year of internal medicine. Additional details regarding the curriculum and resources are available through the CaRMS Medicine Subspecialty Match (R-4) web site.

Applications

Eligible applicants must fall into one of the following two groups:

Canadian citizens or permanent residents currently enrolled in a three-year residency in Internal Medicine in a Canadian medical school can apply at the start of their third year. Application information is available on the CaRMS web site. All funded positions are awarded through the CaRMS matching process. Canadian citizens or permanent residents who completed medical school in Canada and are enrolled in an Internal Medicine residency in certain US medical schools may also be eligible for the CaRMS match. The UBC Division of Nephrology does not accept applications directly for this program.

Interested applicants from certain other countries may be eligible for a work visa provided they have financial sponsorship from their home country, and provided there is an agreement with the government of Canada (examples include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman). Preference is given to applicants already enrolled in a Canadian University Internal Medicine program. Applications may be sent directly to the UBC Division of Nephrology, care of Tammie Davis, Program Administrator. A cover letter, resume, copies of medical school transcripts, and three letters of reference from clinical supervisors should be received by September 15th to be eligible to start July 1st of the following year. All eligible applicants will be invited for an interview, usually in October.

Individuals who do not fit either of the above groups are not eligible for this program, even if they have funding from an outside agency, hospital or government. While there may be other opportunities for training in clinical nephrology with the Division (see clinical fellowships), these other programs are not accredited by the Royal College and do not lead to certification or licensure in Canada.